Rainy Feelings
by little wolf blossom
Summary: When a certain Uchihia vistis the Hidden Leaf, what will it do to Sakura? She doesn't get anytime to ponder what happened. She's sent to retrieve Sasuke. Will she be ready to meet her crush in the heat of battle? [SasuSaku and maybe some ItaSaku]
1. Prologue

I've been itching to write a Naruto story, but seeing that I have a few unfinished stories, I vowed to finish at least two of them first, so I thought a quick one shot would tide me over for now. I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters unless stated otherwise. I'm not going to have a disclaimer every chapter. This plot is entirely my own.

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Rainy Feelings-Prologue

Sakura stood on top of Hokage monument. The wind blew her hair askew and the rain was starting to grow heavier. Her eyes were void of all emotion as she stared off into the distance, past Kohona, past the gates that surround it.

"Sakura, you should go back inside, you wouldn't want to catch a cold. Even medic nin's catch colds." Said the dark haired kunoichi.

Sakura followed the dark haired woman back into the building. When they stopped, in front of them were the doors to the Kage's office. Sakura opened the doors, seeing a sleeping Tsunade sprawled on her desk with a few Sake bottles littering the floor.

Sakura grinned as she leaned over the desk.

"Tsunade… Tsunade, wake up." She hissed softly. The blonde woman stirred but went back to sleep.

"Look! It's a free lottery!" Said Sakura. Tsunade's head snapped up and looked for the 'free lottery'. When she realized the trick, she gave a playful glare toward her apprentice.

"I think that you should do one more round around the hospital then go home Sakura, as punishment." Said the blonde, whipping the drool off her face.

"Is that a punishment? I was going to do it anyways." Teased the young apprentice. She moved out of the room to obey.

After about thirty minutes, her round was finished. When she entered the lobby, she hesitated before leaving. _What's this feeling? Someone's coming…_Sakura stared at the entrance to the hospital. After a few seconds of silence, she dismissed the feeling and signed herself out. When she placed the pen down, the doors to the hospital opened, bringing the wind and rain.

There stood two jounnin. The two that were on guard duty that night.

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be guarding the gates?" Questioned the pink haired girl.

"We got replacements, we need you to examine this patient right away, Haruno-san." Said one of the jounnin. Sakura stared outside into the darkness _it's not like I'm going to go home anytime soon._

"Fine, bring him in. Who is he? Give me his status."

"Little is known about him, but we suspect that he is Uchiha Sasuke. The declared S-class missing nin when he fled the county." Sakura's breath hitched as they were rushing down the corridor.

"W-where did you find him?"

"He tried to get into the gates, we had to subdue him."

"He's S-classed, no offence or anything, but we've been tracking him for years and he just shows up and you guys can subdue him?"

"He was critically injured and he was on the verge of death."

"Contact Tsunade-sama right way. I'll take care of him until then."

Sakura, who had not looked at the patient yet, gasped at what she saw. The young man was covered in blood. He had too many cuts and scrapes to count. But what surprised her the most was his face. He was…

"Sakura!" Yelled Tsunade as she entered the ward. "What's his status?"

"He's unconscious but breathing, walking the tight rope of death. We should be able to save him. His internal organs are heavily damaged. This might take a while. Should I call in Shizune?"

"Yes, go get her, I'll start operating." Said Tsunade, lighting up her hands. Sakura returned with Shizune and the three began the slow healing process.

It was morning when he awoke. _Ugh, where am I? What happened?_ He thought as he looked around the white hospital room. _Hospital?_ He bolted upright in his bed. _Oh, I remember them chasing me, they caught up, but I think I… I think I escaped and made my way towards a wall, maybe a gate. _He tried to remember what happened. _Pink hair…_

Sakura entered the room. "Oh good, you're up! You've been out for six days. How are you feeling?" She asked, while changing the flowers on his bedside.

"Did you know what the guards said when they brought you? That you were already beaten up and were on the verge of death. I thought to myself how careless you were. I never thought you'd be weak. I overestimated you. How careless of me. By the way, don't try to escape, it will be useless." Sakura stopped when she felt a presence draw nearer.

"SASUKE-TEME!" Screeched the energetic blonde as he entered the ward. The pink haired kunoichi appeared behind him and whacked him, hard, on the head.

"Oww, Sakura-chan!"

"Naruto, please be quiet, our patient needs his rest."

"But I just wanted to talk to Sasuke-teme!"

"Naruto, you can visit later. Now get out!" Said Sakura, shoving Naruto out the door.

The dark haired male watched the little exchange of affections.

"I'm sorry about that. Naruto is a bit dense, if you know what I mean." Said Sakura. "Tsunade will be here to talk to you shortly, You know, you do look just like… him. I'll leave now. Please don't try to escape." Sakura paused at the door, "You don't want to face the consenquences."

When the door slid shut, the young man got up. _Don't try to escape? Does she think I'm an idiot?_ He got up, wincing at the pain. He slid open the door and noticed the empty halls. _Didn't even post guards? Idiots._ Before he even took three steps out the door, he finally noticed the presence behind him.

"I told you not to try and escape." With that, he blacked out.

He awoke to find a blonde female looking down at him. _Tsunade_.

"Finally, you're up. Now tell us what happened." At the word us, he looked around. That's when he realized Naruto, Sakura, and Shizune were there too.

"I fought him. My brother. We meet in the woods. He's gotten stronger. We fought, and I fled after… after his partner showed up. I couldn't take them both on." Said the Uchiha.

"You do know that you will have to be punished, you've murdered many, and you also left on your own free will. I will talk with the elders to decide a fitting punishment for you." She turned, "Naruto, come with me." The blonde whined before he was reluctantly dragged out by the woman. Shizune followed them, leaving Sakura alone with him.

"Why? Why did you come back after all of these years?" Sakura started crying. "Did you come back to taunt me? You know, I could kill you right now. I think I'm strong enough now."

"Hn. You think you can kill me? Just try." Sakura was next to him in an instant, senbon by his neck. "Don't try me." She hissed. The Uchiha smirked and grabbed her wrist, forcing her to release the senbon.

"Weak." He muttered before Sakura disappeared in a poof of smoke.

When the smoke cleared, the girl was gone. Using his sharingan, he scanned the room before fleeing through the window. Unknown to him, Sakura didn't leave. She quickly followed him, hiding her presence with her superior charaka control.

It was dusk when he finally reached the gates.

"Stop." A voice commanded him. He turned, only to see the pink haired kuonichi again.

"Did you come to stop me? You don't know who you're dealing with, Sakura." He hissed her name, sending shivers up her spine.

"I know exactly who you are, Uchiha… Itachi." He only smirked at her.

"How long have you known?"

"I knew the moment they brought you in."

"So what, are you going to stop me? Like how you stopped my brother from leaving? You're too weak."

"I'm strong, I can stop you. But tell me, where is Sasuke? What happened to him?" She pulled out a kunai, readying herself for battle.

"He's still among the living, nothing to worry yourself over." With that, he appeared behind her, like what his brother did so many years ago, but this time was different. Sakura blocked the incoming blow to her back. Her kunai was at his throat within a matter of minutes.

"You have gotten strong." Said Itachi before activating his sharingan. Sakura shut her eyes, anticipating the torture that she would have to under go. Her hand jearked forward, about to pierce skin, when he disappeared in a poof of smoke.

From the top of the gate, he said "I'm not that easy to defeat. However, you might even surpass my weakling brother, if you learn how to utilize your strengths. Maybe if you get stronger, you will save your beloved Sasuke-_kun _from doing anything stupid." With that, he disappeared into the forests that surrounded the other side of the wall.

"I will get you, Uchiha!" Yelled Sakura, hoping that her voice will carry towards him.

Fin

Did you like it? It's my first Naruto fic ever. Did it seem like a one shot? I have problems with ending things completely. Did it seem more like a prologue? Opinions pls. Read and Review.

LWB


	2. Chapter 1

Hehe. Since many people like this story and think it should go on, it is no longer a one shot. It is now a story and there will be parings. Maily SakuSasu and maybe some ItaSaku. I wonder what will happen.

Since this is going to be an actuial story, I hope you reread the last line of the first chapter/prologue. Notice how Sakura says Uchiha, and not someone specific. I wonder what that means…

Naruto only got back from training with Jiraiya. It's not the three year thing he did in the manga. He's been gone about a month or two, so he still thinks Sakura is kind of weak. He knows she's strong, but hasn't seen the full extent.

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Rainy Feelings-Chapter 1 

Sakura was in the Godaime's office when Naruto burst in.

"SASUKE LEFT?" He yelled at the top of his lungs. Tsunade motioned to Shizune to shut the doors. When the doors were shut, Tsunade started to explain.

"Naruto, that wasn't Sasuke. You might not have noticed it, but all of us did. That was Uchiha Itachi. He escaped yesterday. The last person to see him was Sakura. It appears that Sasuke is still alive though."

"WHAT? You have to let me look for him!"

Tsunades' patience was wearing thin. "I will do what I want. I don't want you to look for Sasuke, not yet. Aren't you going to be late for training with Jiraiya?" Naruto spased at this and ran out the door.

Sakura sighed as he left. _He hasn't changed a bit._ She thought to herself.

"Sakura, what you told me about yesterday, it that all true?" Sakura nodded, but thought to herself _It's true, but I didn't tell you the whole story._ Tsunade looked at her pupil skeptically before cointinuing. "I think that we should wait before we attack sound directly. We need troops. Our alliance with sand will help, but it might not be enough. I will send a message to the Kazekage. You are dismissed." With that, Sakura and Shizune left the room.

Sakura headed to the bridge, she was to meet Kakashi and Naruto there later. When she got there, Naruto was already there.

"Sa-ku-ra!" Said Naruto, enoucating her name.

"Hi Naruto. How long do you think it will be until Kakashi-sensei shows up this time?"

"Who knows, he's probably reading that perverted book of his. I wonder where Sasuke is now." Although it had been almost two years since his disappearance, Naruto still talked about Sasuke as if he were just on a mission.

"He's probably with that traitor Kabuto and Orchimaru." _Or maybe he's with Itachi and they're fighting right now…_

**Why do you still think about him?** **Didn't you say you'd forget about him?**

But… He is my old teammate, I can't help it. 

"Yo." Sakura looked up into the face of her teacher, Kakashi.

"You're late!" Screamed Naruto.

"I got…"

"What are we doing today?" Sakura cut in.

Kakashi stared at her for a minute before answering. "We are going to try the bell exercise again. This time, there will be two bells, both of you have to get a bell. This time, any where is free ground, I can be in the village, or in the forest, find me and get a bell before noon." Sakura looked at her watch. It was almost ten.

"And, if we win, you have to take us out for lunch!" Said Naruto. Kakashi chuckled and agreed. And in a poof of smoke, he was gone.

"Naruto…" Said Sakura, hoping to get his attention, but he was busy singing ramen over and over again. He stopped singing only to say, "Sakura, I will lead the way!" That was answered with a thud on the head.

"Na-ru-to! Listen to me. We don't know where he's hiding, but he might be in the most obvious places, we need to find him." Sakura pulled out earpieces and Naruto's eyes widened.

"Where did you get those?" He asked.

"That's not important. If you find him, call me and we'll fight him as a team. No heroic acts. Alright?" Naruto nodded and took an earpiece. Then he bounced off to find their teacher.

Sakura sighed and turned to walk the other way. When she passed the gates, she looked upwards, remembering what happened only yesterday…

"_I know exactly who you are, Uchiha… Itachi." He only smirked at her._

"_How long have you known?"_

"_I knew the moment they brought you in."_

"_So what, are you going to stop me? Like how you stopped my brother from leaving? You're too weak."_

"_I'm strong, I can stop you. But tell me, where is Sasuke? What happened to him?" She pulled out a kunai, readying herself for battle._

"_He's still among the living, nothing to worry yourself over." With that, he appeared behind her, like what his brother did so many years ago, but this time was different. Sakura blocked the incoming blow to her back. Her kunai was at his throat within a matter of minutes._

"_You have gotten strong." Said Itachi before activating his sharingan. Sakura shut her eyes, anticipating the torture that she would have to under go. Her hand jearked forward, about to pierce skin, when he disappeared in a poof of smoke._

_From the top of the gate, he said "I'm not that easy to defeat. However, you might even surpass my weakling brother, if you learn how to utilize your strengths. Maybe if you get stronger, you will save your beloved Sasuke-kun from doing anything stupid." With that, he disappeared into the forests that surrounded the other side of the wall._

Sakura sighed and walked on, heading to the training fields where they practiced. But unknown to her, there was a figure lurking in the shadows.

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Notes: Good? Bad? What did you think? Sorry the chapter is so short,I promise the next one will be longer. I did this in half an hour. If you see any mistakes tell me! 

I have to thank three people for putting me on their alert list, which caused this story to be an auctial story instead of a one shot. I hope you like this story so far. Since the prologue didn't give much, I need to add more so you know where the characters stand. I hope you like, read and review.

LWB


	3. Chapter 2

Hello! I'm back for more! I hope you guys enjoyed my last chapter.

All of the rookie nine (Naruto, Sakura, Ino, Chouji, Hinata, Shino, and Kiba) are still chunnin. Shikamaru, however, is a Jounnin.

Sakura has been studying a few months with Tsunade, and Naruto has been away for a few months. Since team seven was a team no more, Kakashi was forced to take many new missions. How ever, they meet up every few weeks to practice and train, which is what they are doing now.

The Sand trio have returned to the sand. When they returned, they found out that their Kazekage died and they were forced to choose candidates for a new Kazekage. After all the formalities, Gaara to became Kazekage.

All of them haven't heard of Sasuke for a long time. People say that he's been traveling with Orchimaru through Sound and Mist, but this is not confirmed.

Tsunade is Hokage and Kohona has been healing since the 'war' with sound and sand.

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Rainy Feelings-Chapter 2 

When Sakura arrived at the training fields, Kakashi stood in the middle, reading Icha Icha Paradise. Sakura smiled.

She tired to talk to Naruto, but her only answer was some slurping noises and then static.

"Kuso!" Naruto cursed as his earpiece landed in his ramen. "Sakura-chan's going to kill me!" Naruto fished the earpiece out of his broth and placed it next to his ear.

"Sa-sakura?" He ventured before pulling it away from his ear due to a loud cackling that caught the attention of every one at the ramen stand.

"Itai itai itai!" He discarded the useless communicator in the trash and paid for his ramen.

"I better find Sakura-chan before she finds me." He mumbled to himself before taking off.

Sakura hid in the thicket before Kakashi could notice her. Over the months, her excellent chakra control had improved a great deal, giving her the skill to conceal her chakra from anything, even the Byakugan.

Sakura observed Kakashi once more. She watched him with a hawks' eye, taking in what she could, and then chose the most opportune moment to strike. It was when he was turning the page; both of his hands were busy. When she appeared like a flash behind him, he didn't seem shaken in the bit; it was like he was expecting her to attack. When Sakura pummeled him with chakra filled punches, Kakashi only giggled at his book and dodged.

Sakura noticed that it was getting her nowhere, so she concentrated chakra to her feet and back flipped away. When she landed, she landed on one foot, but caused the ground to crack, creating a crevice where she was standing as well as where Kakashi was standing. When she turned, he wasn't there.

Sakura sighed and retreated back into the trees. Her eyes took in her surroundings and her brain started to tick when she remembered his words…

_If you learn how to utilize your strengths_

Sakura calculated the best area to set traps and stealthily streaked around the training area, setting quick traps and laying traps on traps. When she finished circling the training are, not only did she set traps, but memorized the terrain of the area. While circling, she also happened to notice Kakashi.

If she noticed him, there was a good chance that he noticed her. Sakura located her teacher behind a tree and lured him out with punches and kicks. Kakashi avoided each one without looking. Sakura started to move faster, and Kakashi started to pay more attention. He started backing up and Sakura kept on pushing him.

When Kakashi felt a wire being tugged by his feet, he launched himself into the air. He quickly preformed a sequence of seals and looked around, hoping to pinpoint the pink haired girl's exact location. Before he could find her, he looked up only to see a rain of kunai. He formed quick hand seals and when the kunai hit him, he disappeared with a poof.

Sakura leaped from the branch and landed on the ground. She tensed when she felt a kunai at her neck.

"Sakura, did you really think you could get a bell?" Asked Kakashi. Sakura looked up at him and smiled. Kakashi's lazy eye widened when Sakura disappeared. When she reappeared in front of him, she held both bells and jangled them.

Kakashi snapped his book shut with the flick of his wrist and walked towards her. Sakura's smile only widened when he stood only a foot in front of her. When he reached out to pat her head, a streak of orange appeared and Kakashi felt a lightweight being taken from his waist.

Kakashi looked down, only to see Naruto there, with his bell as well. When did he get here? Thought Kakashi. He looked at Sakura, and noticed that she still held two bells, while Naruto held one. Kakashi chuckled as he figured out what trick she pulled.

"Good job, Sakura-chan!" Congratulated Naruto. "Thanks for distracting him while I got my own bell. Say, Sakura-chan, how did you get your own bell?" Asked Naruto.

Kakashi also listened, for he would also like to know how she got the first bell.

"That's easy. When he held the kunai to my throat, I was close enough to snatch one."

"Sakura-chan, you're amazing!"

"Nah, if it were serious, I probably wouldn't have been able to pull it off." Sakura smiled at Kakashi.

He pats her head, "No, you've improved." He turned to Naruto. "If you don't start training more, Sakura here will catch up to you." Naruto however, wasn't listening. He was already heading to Ichiraku's.

Kakashi stared after Naruto. When he noticed that Sakura wasn't following, he stopped and turned, "Come on, or we'll leave you behind." He teased. Sakura looked at him a minute. "Go without me. I have something to do." And with that, Sakura turned and walked the other way.

When Sakura arrived at her house, it was almost dark. She spent the day training. Although no one taught, her, she practiced a summoning jutsu. She found a scroll in Tsunade's library about a few weeks ago and borrowed it. Although Tsunade never said anything, she would have noticed the missing scroll by now. Sakura suspected that her teacher wanted her to learn the summoning technique by herself.

Sakura turned on the light to her empty apartment. She fixed herself a light dinner and took a shower.

She laid on her bed, thinking about what's happened.

When she woke up the next morning, there was a note by her bedside.

_Sakura,_

_No practice today, Kakashi's on a mission._

_Naruto_

Sakura sighed and got dressed. When she finished eating, she went to the training fields. _I need to know how to summon. I will get stronger._ Thought Sakura. After she summoned successfully for the sixth time, she went into town to get something to eat. The day ended with Sakura exhausted, but full of satisfaction

It was only a week after the incident involving the Uchiha criminal, but Sakura found her feet leading her to Uchiha mansion. When she reached the door, she knocked. After a few second of silence, she sighed.

_Is it sane to expect someone to answer?_

**You said you'd forget, but you haven't.**

_I… haven't…_

Sakura pushed open the door. She remembered when she and Ino would dream of living in the mansion, as Sasuke's wife. Sakura stood in front of Sasuke's room. She remembered once when they were still a team, Kakashi, Naruto and herself had to enter his room.

_Sasuke sat up with a cough. Sakura rushed to his side._

"_Are you alright?" Sasuke shrugged her off and stood. He stumbled before collapsing back in bed._

"_Sasuke, you're in no condition to do this mission. Stay home and take care of yourself." Said Kakashi. Sasuke mumbled something incoherent and fell asleep. Sakura and Naruto knew why he was sick._

_He was training in the rain the night before. Sakura and Naruto completed the mission, but Kakashi noticed that their heart wasn't in it; their hearts were with their sick teammate._

Sakura pushed open the door. She could almost see Sasuke sitting on his bed. Sakura walked past pictures, past his clothes, past every thing, and sat down on his bed.

_I will forget you sooner or later._

She thought to her self. She tensed when she felt another presence in the room. She slowly took out her kunai. When she noticed the leaf headband, she loosened her grip.

"I'm sorry, Haruno-san. I didn't mean to scare you."

"I wasn't scared. Just… alarmed. What is it?" Asked Sakura, while putting away her kunai.

"Tsunade-sama wanted to brief you on a mission." Replied the jounnin. Sakura nodded and the jounnin disappeared.

Sakura took one last look around the room before leaving. When she arrived in front of Tsunade's office, she saw Naruto, Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji.

"If it isn't forehead girl." Said Ino. Sakura ignore her and went straight to Naruto.

"What's going on? Are we going on a mission with them?" Asked Sakura. Naruto shrugged. Sakura sighed and walked into Tsunade's office. The rest followed her in. Shizune smiled at Sakura and shut the door.

Tsunade sat behind her desk and looked at them.

"All of you are aware that Uchiha Sasuke has left to go to Orchimaru. Correct?" When no one contradicted her, she continued. "He has the Sharingan and it would be very dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands."

"Isn't this a job for hunter-nins?" Asked Sakura.

"No. You will be brining him back alive." Said Tsunade. The five looked at her. "Your leader will be Shikamaru. Please take a scroll and review it. You can depart when you are ready." Tsunade turned her chair to face the window behind her. Each of them took a scroll and was about to leave, "Shikamaru, Sakura, please stay." Commanded Tsunade.

Shikamaru and Sakura turned and stood where they were. When the doors closed, Tsunade turned back to face them. "This is a dangerous mission. Both of you understand the dangers of confronting Orchimaru on his own land. Correct?" The both of them nodded. "Although I assigned Shikamaru leader, if he overlooks any thing, or anything goes wrong, Sakura, you will fill his spot. There are high chances that you could die, please take caution."

Shikamaru, who normally looks bored now avoided Tsunade's gaze. Sakura cast her eyes down and the three were silent. The silence was broken when Shizune cleared her throat.

"But, a team is being dispatched from the sand to aid you." Tsunade gave a pleased look to Shizune.

"Yes, a team is being dispatched from the sand, I have notified them about who the leader was, but they might not always follow your lead. They are only here for back up, do not let them take over the mission."

"How troublesome." Mumbled Shikamaru.

"If I may ask, who is part of this group?"

"The Kazekage assures me that he only sends the best. The names of the people he sent should be mentioned in the scroll.." Said Tsunade ask she flickered a look to Shizune. Shizune nodded.

Sakura and Shikamaru opened their scrolls.

"K-kankuro and Temari?" Questioned Sakura.

"And Baki too?"

Tsunade nodded. "As you know, Baki is older than you by a considerable amount of years, he might try to lead the group. You. Must. Not. Let. Them." Said Tsunade. Sakura and Shikamaru nodded. "They will meet up with you at the border of Sound. Please, be careful. If you encounter any trouble, abort the mission." Sakura and Shikamaru nodded and exited.

"Shizune, will we ever see them again?" Asked Tsunade softly.

"We will Tsunade." Replied Shizune.

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Notes: How did you like it? Longer than the last chapter, no? I'm trying to make my chapters in all of my stories gradually longer. I hope you like the idea. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all! I hope you all have good food and good fan fiction!

Thank you for the reviews from the last chapter, I love feedback, and now I can use the new feature thing they have. But I will still answer some of the reviews here.

**DiteSoap**-It took the kunai a matter of minutes because Itachi fought back, like dodging and stuff.

Read and Review! Until next times, I'm yours truly

LWB


	4. Chapter 3

Woot! It's the third chapter! Just wondering, but what parings would you like to see more? SasuSaku or ItaSaku? I've been wondering. Just tell me which you'd prefer in a review. On with the story!

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Rainy Feelings-Chapter 3 

The team assembled at the gates early the next morning. When they got there, Shikamaru greeted them.

"Hello. You all should have read the scroll last night." He looked over the group, Ino was busy glaring at Sakura, Sakura nodded at his statement, as did Chouji while he was eating, and Naruto started to panic when Shikamaru said that, "But I will recap what the scroll said." Naruto looked relieved.

"Tsunade-sama wants us to find Uchiha Sasuke. In the scroll, it mentioned his possible whereabouts and his possible companions. Right now, we are just to observe him. I am team leader and we will proceed with caution. Enforcements from the Sand are coming. Now…"

But before he could finish, Naruto started to yell, "Ok, this way! Just follow me! Ow! Sakura-chan." Whined Naruto.

"Are you even listening? Shikamaru is the leader! Listen to him."

Shikamaru cleared his throat. "Ok, we will go in a formation." He took out a piece of paper from his pack. "At the front will be Naruto. He has a keen sense of smell and he's quick and powerful. Diagonally behind him to the left will be me. That would be the ideal place if anyone were to ambush us from the side. Sakura will be next to me and behind Naruto, being the only medic, she will need to be able to get to everyone easily."

Sakura nodded at his logic.

"Next to Sakura will be Ino. If anything goes wrong, Ino can use her mind switch technique to help us, and last is Chouji at the back. With his newly learned body enhancing technique, he can reach far behind him. Is everyone ready?" When the group nodded, Shikamaru waved them forward and they took off.

Tsunade and Shizune just arrived in time to see their backs. Their hair fluttered in the wind as they watched their last hope leave. They had forgotten to mention, if they failed, no other team would be sent to look for Sasuke, not to bring him back alive at least.

Sakura observed the green swirls as they went by. The trees, the foliage, no one spoke, so the only sound that could be heard was the multiple thumps of their feet. That and of course the munches that came from behind them, obviously from Chouji.

Sakura stiffened when she felt another presence. She looked over at Shikamaru to see if he showed any signs of noticing. Shikamaru made a few quick hand seals and Sakura saw his shadow extended farther than normal. She grinned and turned back to face the front.

Within a few minutes, kunai went soaring through the air, straight at the rescue team. Sakura jumped up and deflected as many kunai as she could. The rest were rendered useless by Shikamaru's shadows. The rest of the group were caught unaware and quickly jumped back onto the ground. Sakura and Shikamaru joined them a few seconds later.

"Listen, there are five of them. They are about jounin level, proceed with caution." The group nodded and prepared them selves for battle.

Naruto was the first to strike. He located one of the nin's behind a tree and created a doppelganger. The fake Naruto quickly grabbed the nin, but the nin used Kawarimi no Jutsu and turned into a log. Naruto looked above him and smiled, in his hand was a rasengan, just waiting to be unleashed. The nin fell on him like a sac of bricks, but the rasengan pushed him back up and into the air.

Everyone looked at Naruto for a minute. Sakura beamed and thought, _So that's what he's been doing for a few months._ She smiled inwardly. Shikamaru noticed a piece of cloth fall back to the ground. Using his shadow to hold his opponent in place, he walked over to the cloth, which also caused his opponent to walk into a tree and get knocked out. Picking up the cloth, he inspected it.

_This headband, it's that of a sound nin._

"You guys, hurry up and finish them!" He yelled to them. Chouji, Sakura, and Ino nodded.

Sakura smashed the nin's face in. When she jumped back, she saw Ino finishing off the sound nin with a powerful kick in the gut, and Chouji clamp the nin in his giant fist. Sakura smiled.

The group reassembled.

"Alright, is anyone hurt? If so, speak now." Said Shikamaru.

"I'm a bit scratched, but I'm fine." Said Chouji. Sakura went over to him and inspected his wounds. She ran her hand over them and the scratched disappeared.

"Thank you, Sakura-sama."

Sakura blushed at the formality. "Ah. Ah. No need to be formal, Sakura-chan works fine!" Chouji smiled and nodded.

"Forehead-girl works too," Remarked Ino, slightly grinning.

"Let's get going." Remarked Shikamaru. The group traveled on in silence.

An hour later, Sakura spoke, "Did Tsunade tell us when the sand group was going to get there? We could be waiting for them for days and the might not show."

"They're from the sand, I think they'll stay loyal to their word. They'd probably be the ones waiting." Sakura smiled.

"Yea, you're probably right."

"You guys, it's getting dark, I think we should rest." The group slowed to a stop and found a good location to make camp. There was fresh running water to the west and trees all around.

"Naruto, go with Chouji to gather wood. Ino, Sakura, you two go fetch us some water. When you return, I will start setting traps."

"What? Why do I have to go collect wood? I want to eat!"

"Naruto! You need wood to be able to boil water!" Yelled Sakura into his ear.

"Hai… Sakura-chan." Said Naruto meekly. When Sakura and Ino went to fetch water, they never noticed the presence that followed them. No one in the group noticed the presence that had been following them since they left the Leaf.

"Sakura, how can you stand being on a team with that blonde? He's so annoying!" Babbled Ino.

Sakura leaned over to scoop some water up. When she did, she saw a reflection in the water. She tried to act natural, hoping that the reflection would not harm Ino.

"I-ino-chan… Why don't you go back first? I want to stay here longer."

"But forehead-girl, we should stay together." _Since when did she call me Ino instead of Ino-pig?_

"Ino. Please go." Said Sakura without bothering to hide the demand in her voice. She knew Ino wasn't stupid, Ino would go back and tell the group. Ino nodded and picked up the two buckets and hurried off. When she reentered the forest, she dropped the buckets and ran back to camp.

"I know you're here. Show yourself." Said Sakura, standing with her head down. When a figure appeared behind her, she didn't flinch.

"Have you missed me?" The man asked.

"Why would I miss a traitor like you?" She finally looked up at him and smirked. The man's eyes widened with realization. He jumped, but he wasn't fast enough. The Sakura that was standing there minutes before exploded into shuriken and kunai. He deflected them with his own but still got scratched.

Among the weapons were numerous explosion tags. The man jumped back onto a tree branch. He made a few hand signs and mumbled "Kanton, Ryuuka no jutsu"

His attack was directed toward where Sakura was now standing in the middle of the clearing. He could see her eyes widen as she realized that she would not be able to evade the approaching fire. She made a few seals and tried to evade the direct line of attack. When the fire was about to hit her, a wall of darkness engulfed the flames, promptly putting it out.

Nara Shikamaru was kneeling on the forest floor, panting heavily and sweating due to the close proximity of the flames. The man frowned before disappearing.

Beside Shikamaru was Ino. Sakura smiled at them.

"Thank you." Shikamaru nodded and walked over to her. He put his hand on her shoulder, "Do you know him?"

"I couldn't tell who he was." Nara nodded. He turned to Ino. "Stay with her here to cool down. I'll go back and tell them first. Come back when you feel ready." Ino nodded.

"Sakura! Are you alright?" Asked the blonde as Shikamaru left. Sakura nodded and sat at the edge of the river. Ino sat down next to her.

"Are you sure you don't know who it was?"

"I'm sure, Ino." The two sat in silence for a while.

_Who was that? What was he trying to accomplish? He seemed so familiar. That jutsu, that was one that was used frequently by the Uchiha's. Sasuke? Itachi? Who was it? Was it even an Uchiha?_

Sakura couldn't help but sigh as she got up. "I'm alright, Ino. Let go back." Said Sakura. Ino looked up at her. Ino got up and dusted her self off.

"If course you're all aright. Forehead-girl."

When the two to back to camp, the boys stared at them.

"Sakura-chan!" Yelled Naruto. "Are you alright?" He asked as he inspected her.

"Of course I'm all right, don't you think I can take care of myself now? You're not the only one that's been training." Reminded Sakura. Naruto nodded and hugged her.

"You have gotten stronger Sakura-chan."

Sakura smiled. When Naruto released her, he turned to talk to the group, "so what's for dinner?" He asked.

When the grub finished cooking, the only thing that could be heard were the happy teens munching on their food. When they finished, they all went into their tents, but this was after they had a little talk with Shikamaru.

"You guys, we can't have any more attacks on us. There will be two guards on duty each shift. There will be three shifts. First shift will be Sakura and me. Then next will be Chouji and Ino. When they are done, the last shift will be Naruto with ether me or Sakura, it will change each night. Alright? The purpose of having two people is so one can warn the others, not so the two can play hero. Alright?" When Shikamaru asked the last question, they all turned to Naruto.

"What?" Said the blonde boy as he rubbed the back of his head. The group sighed.

"Alright, all of you, get to sleep." Said Shikamaru. When they were all out of earshot, except for Sakura, he mumbled, "This is so troublesome."

Sakura stifled a giggle. _Things never change. I've alwayswondered what would have happened if he continued to fight Temari in that battle._

Sakura and Shikamaru sat in silence until it was well into the night. Shikamaru went to his pack and rustled around. When Sakura looked at what he pulled it, it turned out to be a chessboard. He motioned to Sakura and whispered, "Do you want to play?"

"Sure, but I'm not very good at these games." The two started playing until Shikamaru beat her for the seventh time.

"I think it's time to change guards." Said Shikamaru, looking at the sky.

Sakura nodded and headed back to the tent she shared with Ino to wake up the sleeping blonde. Sakura slept through the night.

When the group woke up the next morning, they woke to Naruto's screams. Sakura peered out of her tent only to see Naruto flipping over the chessboard.

"This game is so boring there should be more action!" Shikamaru wasn't listening, he was too busy trying to locate three missing pieces. Sakura walked over to him and handed him the missing piece and sat down.

"Naruto, it's not that bad of a game. It's amusing, actually."

"Of course fore-head-girl would say that, with a big brain behind that forehead of hers." Remarked Ino as she stepped out of their tent. "And Naruto would never understand a game like that, he's not nearly as smart as Shika or Sakura." Naruto looked at the blonde.

Chouji had just finished taking apart the tents and packing them. He was looking around for any stray trash before he too sat down and started to eat his chips.

"Of course I'm not as smart as Sakura-chan! No one's smarter than her!" With that remark, the two blondes started to argue. They were both silenced when Sakura clamped her hand over Naruto's mouth and Shikamaru did the same to Ino.

The group listened, and the faint crunching of leaves could be heard.

* * *

Notes: So what do you like in a Naruto fic? Do you like a certain couple? Or maybe some certain exchange of emotions. Tell me what you like! Feedback! 

If you ever want to issue a challenge fic to me, either submit it in a view or e-mail me. Try to be specific, paring and anime it's from!

If you see any errors, please point them out and I will edit it.

Wow, I'm not used to writing such long chapters. It's really hard. I'm trying to update this fic more than my other ones.

Did you know that Snake, Frog and Slug are like rock paper scissors? One always wins to one yet loses to another? But if that's the case, Tsunade will always come out on top, right? Snake gets frog, frog gets slug, and slug gets snake. I'm pretty sure Jiraiya's not going to attack Tsunade, so if Orchimaru gets Jiraiya, then Tsunade can get him, but if Tsunade gets him, then she and Jiraiya will live, so Tsunade's in a win win situation? No?

That was really random. Sorry! .

If anyone wants to be a beta reader, tell me and I'll email you the stories in a word document before they are posted.

Love you lots

LWB


	5. Chapter 4

I need more preferences, SasuSaku or ItaSaku? I like both of them, so I need your help!

I hope you liked my previous chapters, and I hope you like this one.

* * *

Rainy Feeling-Chapter 4 

The group stood still as the crunching grew louder. Shikamaru motioned to the bushes and the group quietly hid in them.

A figure came into view, but was blocked out by the blazing sun. When the figure was finally close enough, the group gasped at who they saw. The figure crouched down and picked up something from the ground. From Chouji's perspective, he could see that it was a chip. '_Oh shoot! I hope Ino doesn't notice what it is.'_ But when he looked over at the blonde, flames were around her, and her glare was aiming straight for him.

Chouji gulped but turned his attention back to the man before them. With out warning, Ino sprung up to greet the man.

"Asuma-sensei!" Ino exclaimed. When she got closer however, she barely dodged the incoming kunai. Shikamaru ran out from his position and tackled Ino. He managed to save her from the incoming slew of shuriken, but he wasn't so lucky. When the blonde girl looked up, she saw blood dripping from Shikamaru.

"Shika-kun?' Ino said, unsure of the extent of the injury. She slid out from under him and faced 'Asuma'.

"You aren't Asuma!" She yelled out to the man. The man only smiled.

"Ino, watch out!" Came Sakura and Chouji's scream from the bushes. Ino dodged just in time. She quickly formed hand seals and her body slumped limply to the ground. Chouji jumped out from the bushes to protect her body.

Sakura mouthed some words to Naruto and pointed up. The blonde nodded and they both jumped up. Chouji looked up and thought, '_they must have found something.'_ He was disrupted by the moaning, coming from the girl on the ground.

Ino got up in her own body.

"Ino, are you alright?" Chouji asked.

"Yea, but there's nothing to worry about. That over there isn't Asuma-sensei, its Kakashi-sensei." The man grinned and then a poof was heard. In Asuma's place now stood the silver haired jounin.

"Good job but…" The jounin started to speak but he stopped when he heard a metal clank from above. The group looked up and jumped when they saw the body falling down at them. When the dirt cleared, they saw Sakura and Naruto panting with a kunai in their hand. On the ground was what looked like a beaten Kakashi.

"Is that… Kakashi?" Ino asked. "But, we just found Kakashi." She said, pointing at the standing Kakashi. The group looked from one to the other.

"Nani!" Naruto exclaimed. "Two Kakashi-sensei's?"

When the Kakashi's started to make hand seals, the group jumped away, with Ino dragging Shikamaru into the bushes. The two Kakashi's poofed, yet one was still standing and the other still on the ground. Sakura examined both carefully. She waked closer to the one on the ground and looked back at the one on his feet. She pointed to the one on the ground and declared, "This is the real Kakashi-sensei." With that, she walked over to the standing one and whispered 'Kai' and tapped the man. The man immediately poofed, once again, and turned into Asuma.

Kakashi got up from the ground and patted Sakura on the head. "Good job." He murmured through the mask.

"SHIKAMARU!" Ino screeched. Everyone looked at her in the bushes. She was shaking the cloud watcher and he looked quite alive.

"How could you? I though you were injured!" If you looked closer, you'd notice that there was no blood on the genius, it was just a tomato.

"Nani? Why would you want to pretend to be hurt?" Naruto asked.

"It's too troublesome to fight." Mumbled Shikamaru, causing Ino to shake him even harder.

"Ino-pig… You're going to kill him if you keep doing that." Commented Sakura.

"Yea, listen to the medic." mumbled Chouji. Ino finally stopped shaking him and dropped him.

"Troublesome." Was heard mumbled through the bushes.

"How did you do that?" Chouji asked.

Asuma looked at Kakashi, when he did, he saw Kakashi reading his book. Asuma sighed at his friend before explaining.

"You see, since we were your teachers, we though we'd play a little trick on you to see how well you'd do if someone tried to attack you. Although I hate to admit it, Kakashi's team did better than mine, even if they are only two people."

Shikamaru who was now free from the bushes mumbled, "Yea, it was quite troublesome. Good thing I knew you wouldn't really injure me. Even if you did, we have Sakura." Shikamaru said as he jerked his hand in Sakura's direction.

"How did you do the last part? I was sure the one standing was Kakashi-sensei." Ino said.

"Naruto, did you notice the hand seals they were making?" Said Sakura, when he shook his head, she sighed.

"They used Kawarimi no Jutsu. Kakashi-sensei replaced himself with Asuma-sensei. It was pretty sneaky." Sakura remarked.

"You're always so smart, Sakura-chan!" Naruto remarked. The rest of the group started to talk with Asuma-sensei.

Sakura stood next to Kakashi with a smile on her face.

"So why are you here? Tsunade should have lots of important missions for you to be on. I doubt she'd send you to check on us."

"Perspective as always, Sakura." Kakashi said with a smile. "We were taking this route back from a mission. When we heard the loud noise, we inspected it. Then we formulated this plan to teach you to stay quiet during a mission. It can cost you your life."

"Naruto, did you hear that? Stay quiet during a mission." Sakura said. "How did the mission go?"

"It went well, what mission are you guys on?"

"We have to find, **him**. When we do, we have to bring him back alive." Kakashi's visible eye widened a bit.

"I hope you do well." Was his only remark. The two of them stood silently as they watched the others.

A few minutes later, Asuma nodded to Kakashi and they disappeared after a quick bye. "Naruto, Sakura, be careful." Was the last thing Kakashi said to them. The two nodded and Kakashi left.

"Let's keep going, that slowed us down, we need to reach the border before dark." Shikamaru commanded as he picked up a pack. The group followed him into the forest.

When they reached a small village, it was about noon, so Shikamaru allowed them to stop for lunch, wither he allowed them or not, Naruto happened to catch the whiff of ramen, which gave the group no choice.

"So Ino-pig, how's your love life going, or lack of one?" Sakura asked as she ate her ramen.

"Funny you should ask. I've been dropping a few hints, but I think he's just lazy. He probably thinks that I'm too troublesome." Sakura giggled a bit at this and looked over at the young chuunin.

Naruto was laughing at how Shikamaru just sneezed and almost fell off his chair.

When Sakura looked back to Ino, she was babbling about the sand nins.

"I wonder who they're sending. It better not be that girl with the fan… what was her name… Ah! Temari! I think she might be after Shika-kun too. After what happened at the chuunin exams, who knows. But if she comes, she better keep her claws off of him." Ino put down her chopsticks with a loud snap, "So who's paying?"

Shikamaru took out the money that Tsunade presented him with earlier and counted out a few bills. When Naruto finished, the group left and continued to travel through the woods.

"Naruto, what did you learn while you were gone?" Sakura asked when the group fell into a comfortable rhythm.

"I learned lots of things, the move you saw earlier, which is called Rasengan. I learned lots of taijutsu. I can't list everything I've learned from Jirayia-sensei. I learned how to call Gama-bunta by will now! Jirayia-sensei said that you've been studying with Tsunade-obaa-chan eh, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

Sakura then proceeded to speed up until she was next to Naruto; she flashed him a sweet smile and bonked him on the head.

"It's Tsunade-sama to you." She remarked, while falling back into place.

"Did you learn a lot from the old granny?" Naruto asked. He turned around just in time to see the incoming kunai. He dodged, but not before loosing some of his blonde lochs.

"You'll see when I use them, I've learned a lot." Sakura said mysteriously.

The greenery flew by as the group jumped from tree to tree. None of them noticed the force following them; the threat was too well hidden.

Shikamaru signaled them to stop after a few hours, when he did; he observed the trail and the surrounding area. When he finished, he motioned to Sakura to take out some exploding tags. When she did, Shikamaru placed them on four trees, creating a box. Finally extracting a coil of wire, he jumped higher into the trees to set more traps.

When he finished, he nodded to the groups and they all jumped and left.

"What was that for, Shikamaru?" Naruto asked. Sakura and everyone else looked at him, waiting for an answer.

"It was troublesome, there might be people following us."

Ino gasped, "Did you sense them?"

"I don't know, but for a second, I felt some strange charka. After a second, it disappeared though. It could have been another ninja." The group nodded and concentrated on the task at hand.

It was almost dark when they finally reached the border. When the group stopped, Shikamaru spoke, "We will cross the border in the morning, get some rest. Tonight, the guards will be Sakura and I, then Ino and Chouji and with Naruto will be with Sakura." Shikamaru said.

When the group started to set up, they noticed a bright light.

Sakura looked at the light, "That was from our explosion tags. Someone set them off."

Shikamaru looked at it too and did some calculations. "If it took them that long, then it's probably a group of academy students." The group continued to set up when they heard a familiar voice coming from the forest they just exited.

"Well, look at what we have here."

Then a second voice joined in, "If it isn't a group of leafs."

"Who's there?" Ino asked, as she took out her kunai.

* * *

Notes: Do you like it? Sorry there wasn't enough action in this chapter. 

I wonder who just appeared from the forest. Was it the people with the threatening aura? Maybe, maybe not! Maybe it's Kakashi and Asuma again, or maybe it's Gai or Neji, Tenten and Lee?

Hmmm, if I start a Kabuto and Shizune fic, will anyone read it? Are they a cannon couple? Are there any fanfics on them yet? I like that couple… I know how it could work out too.

Honestly, what do you want, SakuraxSasuke, or SakuraxItachi? I can't decide.

Thanks for the reviews. I'm glad I'm on a lot of alert and favorites lists, but can you review once in a while?

I'm in five C2's! I'm happy, I didn't expect there to be so many Naruto C2's.

I've updated four stories this weekend, I'm very happy. Feel proud for me :D

Guess what! I've got a beta reader! I'm very happy now I can have someone to catch my errors and stuff. She's already betaed some of my other stories and she was really quick about it. Makes me feel all bubbly inside… .

Let's see if she has anything to say…

Sango: you're the author you write in A/n's not me! Ahhh! Leave me outta this! runs away from the people who actually read this OH YEA AND REVIEW TO HER! Lol the more reviews the faster she writes the more I get to beta!

I guess that's all I have to say, over and out.

LWB


	6. Chapter 5

Hehe, only one reviewer guessed right, it was the Sound! Good job, Twighlight13! Lots of action in this chapter!

The question is still up, SasuSaku or ItaSaku.

Beta: Sango Twin

* * *

Rainy Feelings-Chapter 5 

"Who do you think it is?" The first voice repeated.

"It's your personal entourage, we're here to welcome you to the hidden village of the Sound."

The figures moved from the alcove of the trees and stepped into the light.

"It's you. I knew your aura felt familiar." Sakura said.

"If it isn't the weakling kunoichi. Ah, and the blonde one is here too." A girl with long black hair spoke.

"Lets see, your names are Zaku, Kin and Dosu." Said Shikamaru. "Am I correct?"

"Yes, I remember you too, you were the one with the shadow technique." Dosu said.

"Lets see if you've gotten any stronger." Zaku sneered, with a menacing smile on his lips.

"What? Do we know you?" Naruto asked while rubbing the back of his head. He barely dodged the kunai that Zaku whipped at him. "Nani? What was that for?"

"Naruto shut up and fight!" Shikamaru yelled as he dodged a slew of shuriken. While Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, and Naruto were busy with Dosu and Zaku, Sakura took the liberty of fighting Kin.

"Look at you, with your pink hair." Kin sneered.

"Do you have a problem with my hair? I remember last time, you grabbed my hair and I cut it off."

"I have to say, you're pretty confident. You should head back to your little village; the battle ground is no place for a weak girl who cares more about her looks than her enemy." Kin taunted.

"I'm not weak any more, Kin. Why haven't you made a move yet? Are you afraid?"

Kin growled and attacked Sakura. Sakura easily dodged the swipe to her neck and then tried to punch her. Kin tried to dodge, but wasn't fast enough. Her cheek was only grazed, but it still sent her spinning.

She wiped the wound and looked at her blood. "Hm, looks like the little girl got stronger." Kin threw five senbon needles past Sakura. They hit the trees surrounding Sakura with a thunk.

"You missed, Kin." Sakura remarked.

Kin grinned and replied, "Did I?" Sakura was confused at first, but understood as a light ringing was heard. Sakura turned only to see the bells on the senbon, and the gleam of the wire that lead from the needles to Kin's hands.

Sakura ran forward, hoping to knock the girl off balance and sever the wires. When she did, the girl moved her fingers, causing a loud ring. The ring echoed through the forest and through Sakura's ears. Sakura stopped to clasp her hands over her ears.

Looking over at her teammates, she noticed that it affected them too. When the ringing stopped they were all on their knees.

"Good job, Kin." Dosu remarked. Kin nodded. Zaku walked over to Naruto, but was stopped, shaking in his tracks. Dosu and Kin also stopped moving. Sakura looked over at Shikamaru and sure enough, his shadow was connected to the three sound nins.

Chouji proceeded to make hand seals and his arms extended and scooped the three nins up, pushing them together.

"Do you think that can stop us?" Zaku asked. With his arms pinned beside him, he started to emit sound waves. The waves hit the ground, causing the ground to shake.

The two tried to stop him, but failed. They were forced to release their hold when the sound waves became too painful. The sound nin's dispersed as soon as they were free. Sakura and Ino looked around, hoping to catch a trace of the three.

"Are you looking for us?" Kin appeared behind Ino, Dosu behind Sakura, and Zaku behind Naruto.

Kin twisted Ino's arm behind her and forced her to the ground. Her other arm gripped Ino's blonde locks firmly. "Such pretty hair, so strong and shiny. How long does it take you to keep it this way? It won't matter in the end however, because you will die by my hand."

Ino took out her kunai. "What are you going to do to me with that?" The sound kunoichi questioned.

With the help of Shikamaru, Sakura freed her self from Dosu's grip and appeared behind Kin.

"Why do _you_ keep your hair so long and so shiny?" Questioned Sakura as she grabbed Kin's hair and thrust her forward, stopping a millimeter away from Ino's kunai.

Ino gripped her kunai tighter and pressed it against her jugular.

"Tell us, why are you here? Who sent you?" Questioned Sakura from behind the raven-haired girl.

"That is none of your concern, you'll have to kill me first."

"Sakura-chan! Watch out!" Naruto yelled. Sakura and Ino turned, only to see Dosu dashing straight towards them. Sakura and Ino jumped away, landing only a few feet from the rest of their team.

"Why are you here?" Naruto yelled.

Dosu tilted his head to the side, "We were sent to kill you."

"You can't kill us! We're too strong for you to kill! I'm going to be the next Hokage, after all." Naruto taunted.

Dosu rammed his arms through the ground. The group looked in wonder.

"Wait! I've seen this before, everyone get to higher ground." Sakura said as she leaped onto a tree branch. The rest followed suit and landed on other branches.

They watched from their perch as the ground turned soft. The trees started shifting and they had to relocate themselves often.

When jumping from her perch, Ino felt a strong presence behind her.

"Hello, little leaf." Zaku said as he attempted to kick her. Ino blocked the attack, but it forced her off course and into the sandy depths below.

"Ino!" Sakura growled softly. Sakura looked up into the green treetops. Her eyes caught movement from above. When Sakura could clearly see it, she smiled.

Ino closed her eyes and prepared for the death that awaited her. Ino landed with a thunk. But when the sandy death never came, Ino cracked open her eyes. She looked down at her feet, it seemed like she was sitting on paper. She looked up, only to see the back of someone. When she looked again, she realized who it was.

"Temari, land over here!" Sakura motioned to the older blonde. Temari complied and landed next to Sakura.

"Hm, weak as always. Ninja's from the Leaf can never surpass the ninja of the Sand." Temari said with a grin.

"Hm. Maybe, maybe not. But I see you're late as always." Sakura replied. As the three got into a fighting stance.

"We don't have time for you, Sand. Why don't you get lost?" Zaku said.

"Calm down, Zaku." Cautioned Dosu.

"Our mission is to eliminate the Leaf's, not the Sand." Kin reminded them.

"We should retreat." Dosu said.

"Stop talking and pay attention to the fight." Kankuro growled. When the Sound nin's looked up, they noticed wire all around them. The wires closed in on them, starting to constrict them.

"Fine, we'll retreat" Zaku whispered to his two comrades. The sound group jumped up and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Cowards." Naruto mumbled as he jumped down from his perch.

Chouji and Shikamaru jumped down from their branch and landed between Kankuro and Temari.

"Where's Baki?" Shikamaru asked.

Temari and Kankuro looked around before pointing into the bushes. And Baki stepped out.

Temari started looking at Shikamaru, but Ino caught this and stood beside him protectively. Temari's eyes narrowed a bit, but there was no change in her demeanor or aura.

"So who's the leader?" Baki questioned.

"How troublesome," Shikamaru mumbled only so that Ino could hear. Ino giggled a bit. "I'm the leader." Shikamaru said with a sigh.

"Hm, let's talk about our plan of attack. We need a good plan so we don't get ambushed or worse."

"No, let's set up camp first." Shikamaru interrupted. Baki looked at him a minute before complying.

When the group finally set up camp, Shikamaru motioned to Baki to follow him into his tent. "Now we can talk about strategy.

When Shikamaru and Baki were safe in Shikamaru's tent, Naruto and Chouji started arguing about which food is better, barbequed food or ramen. Kankuro was busy carving something out of wood, a miniature puppet no doubt.

The girls were sitting around the fire.

"So, how was your trip here?" Sakura asked.

"It was alright. We actually watched most of your fight before jumping in. You guys had a really rough time, considering it was five to three. I never thought the Leaf were so weak." She teased.

"We aren't weak! We were caught off guard. The people that are here, we really can't deal well with sound attacks." Ino argued.

"That's what training's for." Temari took out a mini fan and handed it to Sakura. "This is from Gaara, he told me to give it you. It's his thanks to you for helping the Sand out with that nasty illness." Sakura took the fan.

"Thank you. It's beautiful." Sakura said as she opened the fan. On the fan were butterfly imprints and a few butterfly charms. The paper was a light pink color and the spokes were made of a dark oak.

"It's not only a fan, you can also use it as a weapon." Temari took out her own mini green fan and demonstrated. She bit her finger and smeared the blood on it. She then made seals with one hand. When she finished, she swung the fan once and aimed it towards Kankuro. A slight breeze fluttered towards the unsuspecting puppet master.

"Temari!" Kankuro yelled. Ino looked over only to see the puppet master's hand encased with ice.

"That's neat!" She exclaimed.

"If I can't fight because of you, you know who to blame if we lose." He mumbled. Sakura approached him, "Here, let me help you."

"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu." Small flames flowed from Sakura's mouth to Kankuro's frozen hands, melting the ice and warming his fingers.

"Thanks." Said Kankuro as he glared at his older sister.

Naruto sat there, spell bound at the jutsu that Sakura had just performed. "How did you do that?"

"I learned it from Kakashi-sensei when we had free time." Sakura replied with a shrug.

The group looked over as the flap of Shikamaru's tent rose. Baki looked a bit puzzled, but he still kept his composure.

"Ok, lets get some rest, we're going to have a long day tomorrow." Baki stated. When he passed Temari, he whispered, "I can see how he beat you at the chunnin exams, he's very intelligent.

Temari nodded and followed Sakura and Ino to their tent.

* * *

Notes: Hehe, I like focusing on the kunoichi's more than the guys. So that's probably why the guy's weren't mentioned that much in the fight. 

Baki might be OOC, but I don't know what his character is like, he only appeared like… twice through the entire series…. So yea…I'm playing his as a, 'kids can't be better than adults' kind of guy. Hm, if anyone knows his character, could you please tell me? And does anyone know what attacks he uses? Any info on him would be lots of help and is greatly appreciated.

Hm… Happy (late) Holidays and Happy New Year! I hope you had a great holiday and if you celebrate Christmas, I hope you got lots of cool things, I got Naruto manga books 7 and 8. I got some sweet gift cards too.

Remember, Sasuke or Itachi! Your vote might make a difference. Right now, I'm on vacation; so I might be able to write some chapters ahead of time, so vote as soon as you can!

This chapter was short, ne? Sorry about that. I wanted to update yesterday, but ffn wouldn't let me upload. I was sad. :(

**Spoiler Alert** (for chapter 289) Have you seen chapter 289? Eeeep, Kabuto! A spy's spy spy? He's very… crafty… And Sasori's back! WOOT! Sasori!

I'm also aware that Dosu dies, dueto Gaara, but let's pretend he didn't. **End spoiler**

LWB


	7. Chapter 6

Weeee, chapter six!

Beta: neko konek0

My normal beta's e-mail isn't working, so i found a temproary beta.

* * *

Rainy Feelings-Chapter 6 

Sakura was the first to wake that morning. Well, other than Kankuro and Ino, who had both been assigned guard duty. When the pair saw Sakura, they waved to her from their position near the dwindling fire.

Sakura strapped on her weapons pouches and her new fan before exiting the tent. She looked over at Ino, who was sound asleep, and smiled to herself.

Sakura stretched and looked at the sky; it was the start of a new day. She joined Kankuro and Ino and relit the fire. Kankuro handed her a pail of water and Sakura started to cook what food they could find.

When the rest of the group awakened, they ate the food and sat, waiting for Shikamaru to finish. When he placed his makeshift bowl down, the group looked at him.

"Alright, today we enter the Sound. We should be careful. Since we now have eight people, we should split into two groups.

"The first group will compose of Baki, Temari, Chouji, and myself as leader. The second will compose of Sakura, Naruto, Kankuro and Ino. Sakura will be the leader.

"The first group will go in first. When we give you a signal, you move in. Only Sakura and I will be connected with these headsets." Shikamaru extracted two headpieces from his pack and handed one to Sakura. He also noticed Ino's anxiety.

"What is it, Ino?"

"Do I have to be on their team? Can't I stay with you and Chouji? Team 10, as always?" Ino added meekly, "right?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "They need you on their team. Team one has me for strategy and restraint, Chouji for power, Temari for defense and Baki for offense and quick healing. Team two has Sakura for healing, power and strategic leadership, Naruto for his stamina and power, Kankuro for defense with his puppets and then they need you. No one from team one can take that spot. Sorry Ino." Ino looked down for a minute before returning her gaze to Shikamaru.

"It's alright, continue."

"We will be in contact at all times. Second team, make sure you keep the first team in view. We should all try to stay hidden, yes you need to be able to read hand signals given by the leader. Any questions?"

Baki decided to pipe up, "Why don't you exchange me with Haruno-san? Then you can have a capable leader for the second team."

Shikamaru looked at the man before answering, "Do you think she is not capable?" Said Shikamaru with a dangerous tone.

"She is capable, but don't you want someone with more experience?"

"Do you not remember how she helped the sand? She saved your whole village from the brink of death, by _herself_. Now, any questions that _don't_ challenge my leadership abilities." The group looked at each other, no one wanted to provoke the shadow master.

"Good, let's go." The first group checked their packs and headed off. Before leaving himself, he turned to Sakura, "If anything happens to me, keep on going." She nodded and shot back, "If anything happens to me, keep Naruto in check and leave." The two reached a silent understanding.

Shikamaru left, following his team while Sakura turned to hers.

"Let's hurry up and clean up, we need to follow his team soon." The group nodded and erased all of their traces.

"Sakura," cackled her headset. "Move out," was Shikamaru's simple command.

Sakura signaled her team to move, she scanned the area with her green eyes before heading off. She never noticed the figure lurking in the shadows.

The shadow shifted just as she left, following Sakura from behind.

Sakura fell into a rhythm with her team. The abnormally loud thump was the only indication that they were more than one.

The group shadowed the shadow manipulator's group slowly. Sakura signaled the group to stop. The four watched the group ahead of them deal with more sound nin's. When the group disposed of the sound nin's, Sakrua's earpiece buzzed.

"Sakura order your group to stay, but you come out." Was the command.

Sakura left the cover of the trees only when she was sure Naruto wouldn't follow her.

She appeared before Shikamaru on her feet. "What is it?" Shikamaru motioned to the constricted Sound nin's. When Sakura saw them, she tilted her head questioningly.

"I want you to do a quick exam on them, when we were fighting them, something seemed off." Sakura nodded and started, engulfing her hands with a bright green light.

"Their charka system, it's almost nonexistent. Someone tampered with it. The only one I know of that could have done this is Kabuto." Shikamaru nodded his head.

"Return to your team. Make sure no one follows you." Shikamaru ordered Sakura.

Sakura headed to the mentioned meadow and found a stream there. She checked the water for poison before crouching down to take a sip. She noticed a shadow move behind her, but when she turned, there was no one there. Sakura busied herself by cleaning her weapons. When she was satisfied with the gleam, she placed them gently back in the holster.

Sakura looked around, making sure no one was watching her before channeling her charka to her feet. Then she crouched low, and jumped for the closest branch. She reached for the branch, but before she made it, arms encircled her from behind, stopping her upward motion.

When the arms didn't let go, she tumbled back with the figure down to the ground. Sakura struggled briefly. The figure released her before they hit the ground, allowing Sakura to flip and land on her feet.

"Who are you?" She growled, forgetting about the microphone by her mouth.

The figure got up and Sakura could recognize the red clouds on that black coat.

"Itachi." She sneered out loudly. She noticed a rustling in the bushes, but gave the hand signal for don't move. The bushes rustled in protest, but stopped when she showed the signal again.

"Hello, little kunoichi."

"What do you want?"

Itachi looked into her eyes, "Why, I want a medic nin," was his simple reply.

Sakura's eyes widened at his statement. "By medic nin, do you mean me?" She asked, avoiding his gaze.

His emotionless face never changed, not even the flicker of his eye, as Sakura felt a presence behind her.

Sakura turned, only to see a blue face hovering above her, sword in hand. Sakura pulled out her measly kunai, hoping to soften the blow from the huge sword. Before the blue-faced man could strike her, a streak of orange kicked him out of the way.

Naruto stood in front of Sakura, panting lightly. "Sakura-chan, are you alright?" He asked her, not bothering to look.

"Hai Naruto-kun, but I told you to stay put!"

Naruto was saved from answering when the cackle of the headset came through loud and clear.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" Came Shikamaru's broken voice.

"We're getting-" But before Sakura could finish, Itachi ripped the earpiece off her ear and burned it between his fingers. Sakura sliced at him with her kunai, but without seeing his feet move, he wasn't in front of her anymore.

Sakura looked to her left, only to see him a few yards away.

The clang of metal and metal could be heard. By now, Ino and Kankuro had joined the fray.

Sakura looked back at the group, three on one. The odds were in their favor, but if she went off to fight Itachi by herself, she might not win. Sakura bit her lip, watching the four battle it.

Ino was situated far away, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike with her Shintenshin no Jutsu. Kankuro's hands were busy directing his two puppets, and Naruto was busy charging in with his many bunshin. Sakura looked at them one last time before looking at Itachi.

Sakura dropped her pack and rummaged through it with Itachi looking at her, emotionless as always. She drew out a sheathed katana and strapped it on her back.

"I didn't know you were ANBU." Remarked Itachi.

"I'm not." she replied with a steely gaze.

"I have an ANBU issued katana myself, I know what they look like .The one on your back is clearly one."

"Just because I have one, doesn't mean I'm on ANBU." Sakura's eyes had just finished scanning the surroundings, taking in anything that could work in her favor. When he didn't respond, the two looked at each other before finally making a move.

The two ran at each other, Sakura with her kunai, Itachi with his hands by his side. When Sakura tried to strike him, he shifted his feat and avoided it.

"Too predictable, even if I didn't have the sharingan, I would have predicted it anyways." Was his casual reply as he tapped her arm away from his body, rendering it useless. Sakura turned, bringing her foot up in the process. Itachi raised his wrist up slowly, intending to block a soft blow.

When Sakura channeled her charka at the last minute, it drove Itachi into the ground.

"Not bad, I knew I recommended the right medic to the Akatsuki." Said Itachi as he sprung from his earthen grave.

Itachi looked over at the blue man, "Kisame, finish them now." He ordered. Sakura looked at her teammates in shock as Kisame swung his sword and knocked them all out. Sakura watched as the blue man walked over to her, when he didn't swing his sword, Sakura prepared for battle, forgetting about the threat now behind her.

"You are coming with us." Sakura turned, her hand ignited with green flame, "No." Itachi showed no emotion as he grabbed her wrist with one hand, and her chin with the other, forcing her to look into his eyes. Sakura dislocated the muscles in his arm as a sign of protest before falling into a deep sleep.

Itachi swung Sakura onto his shoulder. He and Kisame left with Sakura in tow just as Shikamaru, Chouji, Temari, and Baki arrived.

Temari took out her mini fan and in an attempt to save Sakura, she made hand seals and swung it. Kisame turned and used his bandaged sword to block it. Ice particles started to form, but not enough. He shook his sword and the ice evaporated as it hit the hot earth. He grinned, showing his teeth before disappearing after his partner.

* * *

Notes: Sorry for the late update! I'm really sorry! Anyways.. 

SasuSaku stands currently at 3 while ItaSaku stands at 3. WOW, a tie! I'm only counting one vote from one person, so yea… More people vote? Cause… at this rate, I might trick you and have it SakuNaru. Just kidding!

I've started a new story, but haven't posted it yet. It is a NejixTenten fict, my favorite paring of all. I will probably post it around… dunno, March? When ever I finish the story line… But I hope you like it. A summary is in my profile point.

Was this chapter shorter than the other ones? I can tell when I type it… o well, I hope it's satisfying!

For all of you unregistered reviewers, if you want me to e-mail you with an alert every time I update this story, pls say so in a review.

Yea, sorry for the wait, I hope you like it.

LWB


	8. Chapter 7

Rawr, sorry for taking so long to update. I've been swarmed.

Beta: SangoTwin

* * *

Rainy Feelings- Chapter 7 

Sakura opened her eyes, only to be greeted with complete darkness. She shifted so her hand could be freed. And she tried to brush her hair out of her eyes, but instead felt the tug of chains.

Sakura shook her head a little, trying to clear the fog from her mind. When she could finally focus, she looked around.

It seemed like she was in an old holding cell, the walls were bare and earthly, and the ceiling was no better.

Sakura sat still for a minute, before trying to find out the range of her bonds. Although her hands were chained, it seemed that she was also deprived of attacks. The chains seemed to have a jutsu on them that prevented her from using chakra. Her feet were a slightly looser, but the chains still prevented use of chakra.

She slumped into the wall and dropped her hands to her side. When she heard a squeaking outside the door, she went on full alert.

The door opened, revealing a trickle of light at first, but when it slammed open, Sakura could make out a cloaked form in the doorway.

The cloaked form stood by the door, unmoving.

"You, get up."

When Sakura didn't comply, the form was in front of her, and pulled her to her feet.

'_Fast' _Sakura thought.

In an instant, the chains were removed and Sakura found herself being dragged away from the room.

After about ten minutes of being dragged around, Sakura found herself being forced upright and shoved into another room.

The light that streamed from the window facing her was harsh on her unadjusted eyes. Sakura lifted her hands and blocked out the light. After adjusting to it, she finally noticed a figure to her right.

"You're the medic." Was the simple statement that came from the man.

"It's Sakura, my name is Haruno Sakura."

The man ignored her statement and continued.

"You will be a medic for the Akatsuki."

"No."

"You, kunoichi, have no say in the matter."

Sakura growled and tried to lash out at the man. When she did, another figure appeared and she found herself looking into piercing redness before passing out.

The man spoke, "Itachi, take her to her room and make sure she's properly equipped." Itachi gave a slight bow and disappeared.

He left her on the bed, not bothering to place her in a comfortable position. He sat on a lone wood chair not too far and waited until she stirred.

"Ugh, where am I?" spoke Sakura to herself. When she caught a glimpse of Itachi, she remembered.

"There's a cloak for you in the dresser. On the nightstand, there should be a black ring. That will be a temporary Akatsuki ring. Take ether off, and you might die."

"That's nice to know," Sakura mumbled to herself.

"You may try taking it off if you wish." Sakura looked down at the items she retrieved, and though better of it and slipped them on. The ring was too big for her, so she used some string and wore it like a pendant.

Itachi looked, blank, but Sakura interpreted it was contentment, and talked to him.

"Now what?"

"Now you heal our members."

"No. I will not heal you members. I won't work for the enemy." Sakura then made the mistake of looking up, into his eyes again.

Trapped in her mind, being tortured, Sakura struggled to breathe. When she was released from the crude images, she found herself on the floor.

"If you don't want more, I suggest you listen to what I say."

Sakura shook her head again. "No, I'd rather kill myself," She stated.

Itachi replied by sending her into another illusion.

This time, instead of tormenting Sakura, another figure was in the meadow. When Sakura looked closer, she noticed Sasuke in the clearing, crying out in pain.

"Sasuke!" Sakura whispered. When Sasuke started spitting out blood, tears started to stream down Sakura's face.

"No, no, no…" Sakura whispered softly at first, but got louder each time until she was screaming. All she could do was sit there and watch.

_It's just an illusion, this wouldn't happen, Sasuke is strong, he's strong!_ With that, Sakura squeezed her eyes shut, blocking out the images. She reached for her kunai pouch, hoping to use the pain to extract herself from the illusion. When all she felt was air, she bit her lip, hard.

Sakura awoke from the illusion, panting hard.

Itachi was still in his chair, but he was perspiring lightly and had a pained look.

"What are you? No one's been able to break out of my genjutsu, no one." He held his head in his hands and walked out of the room.

Sakura licked the blood from her lips and spat it out onto the dirt floor. She lied down on the bed and looked up.

After an hour passed, Kisame opened the door, glaring at her.

"Kunoichi, what ever you did, it pissed Itachi off. You'd best watch out."

"What do you want, shark?"

"You are to heal the injured." The shark man watched as the pink haired kunoichi sat unmoving on the bed.

The two stared at each other in silence until the swish of a cloak was heard in the hall.

Itachi's voice floated through the door, "Kunoichi, you better heal the injured or else I'll harm your precious Sasuke-_kun_."

Sakura got up in a huff and sharply replied, "Its Sakura, Haruno Sakura!"

She glared as she passed the grinning shark. "Have fun." Spoke the shark, not hiding his amusement with her.

When Itachi opened the door, an odor floated into the hall. Sakura had to use most of her will power to keep from retching.

"Our injured are kept in here, remember this room. You will be expected to look in on them every day." With that, he strode off down the hallway, cloak swishing behind him.

Sakura looked into the room with dread, but as soon as she saw the injured, her medic's instinct kicked in and she couldn't help but heal them.

An hour and a half later, Sakura struggled to remember the way back to her room. She stumbled through the halls before reaching a familiar hallway.

She stumbled and almost fell into the hallway before reaching a door. The door looked familiar, so Sakura opened it. She looked in, only to find red eyes staring at her.

"Go-gom…" But she never finished apologizing. Sakura passed out, exhausted from the day's work.

She awoke in her bed. Sakura looked around at first, a bit startled that she didn't awake on the floor.

Sakura flinched as her feet touched the cold floor. She slipped into a cloak and made sure the ring was around her neck before walking into the hallway.

Sakura focused some charka into her nose and tried to smell out the kitchen. To her right, she could smell the humidity of what she could only imagine as the baths. To her left, there was a stale smell. Sakura too her chances and turned left.

After reaching another break in the hall, she tried to smell for the kitchen again, but her nose was hit with the smell of something burning. The stench was overwhelming. Sakura rushed to the source, she half hoped that half of the members were burning up, aiding in her escape.

When she entered the kitchen, she saw Kisame standing at a gas stove, apparently trying to savage what was left of a salmon fillet.

He turned as she entered, sneering at her before turning back to his ruined efforts.

Sakura suppressed a chuckle, trying not to face his wrath.

Kisame turned at the small noise and threw out the pan altogether. "Don't laugh at me. It's not like you can do better" he stated while standing by the stove. Sakura grinned and pulled up the sleeves of the cloak.

She peered into the refrigerator; she pulled out a few items and got to work. After only five minutes, she set something onto Kisame's plate.

The blue shark inspected it, nothing how it was evenly cooked and had a nice layer of juice on the bottom of the plate.

Sakura handed him a bowl of rice and she also sat down.

"Who said you could have some." Kisame asked, wanting to savor the sensual meal by himself.

"I made it, I get it. I don't have to share it with you." Sakura replied, taking a chunk of the fish.

Kisame took a piece and poked it, looking at it suspiciously.

"You didn't put anything in it, did you?" He asked.

"Would I tell you even if I did?" She asked, not really answering his question.

He eyed her warily, before reaching onto a near shelf and plucking some powder. He sprinkled it on his food. When the powder stayed white, he deemed it safe and ate it.

"You're not bad, kunoichi."

"It's Sakura, Haruno Sakura. You can call me Haruno-san." Sakura mumbled, knowing that he wouldn't take her advice seriously.

"Oh, hey Itachi! Come join us, Saku-chan made dinner, it's fish." He held up a piece for Itachi to see.

"I see. If you made it, it would be burnt."

"I tried." Kisame mumbled.

"That must have been that stench I smelled from the baths." Itachi commented as he sat down next to Kisame with his own bowl of rice.

The three ate in silence. When they finished, Kisame stood, "I'll do the dishes." Itachi and Sakura nodded.

"How long… how long will you keep me here?" Sakura asked Itachi.

"Hey, kunoichi, you know that if you're gone too long, Konohona will declare you a missing nin." Sakura looked up at Kisame, horror etched into her face.

"How long is… too long…?" She whispered.

"I think it's a week." Kisame replied.

"How long are you keeping me?" Sakura asked Itachi again, hoping for a straight answer.

"For as long as you're needed."

"No."

Itachi glared before pinning her against the wall. His hand was threatening to choke her. Their chairs fell to the ground a few seconds later.

"You have no say in the matter."

"I see that arm healed." She replied.

Itachi's hold tightened. Sakura started breathing heavily, but never stopped glaring at him.

The two glared at each other for a while. Itachi dropped her, leaving her rubbing her neck and breathing heavily.

"You have no value to us dead." Was all he said as he glided out of the room.

Kisame looked up from drying the dishes and whistled.

"Not bad, kunoichi. I have new respect for you. It's not every day that you see Itachi leaving a fight."

Sakura returned her chair into an upright position and sat. "I'm glad you're happy I almost died."

"You wouldn't have died, Itachi was telling the truth. You have no value to us if you're dead."

"Is this all I am to do, heal people?"

Kisame looked thoughtful for a minute. "I think you might have to accompany us on a mission once or twice."

Sakura sat, in silence, hoping to find some way of escape.

She got up, "I'm going to sleep now." With that she walked out of the kitchen, sure of her path.

When she reached her room, she opened the door cautiously; making sure it was her room before entering. She looked out the window, wondering what her team could be doing without her.

* * *

Notes: How do you like it? I'm really sorry about the late update. I've just been busy! 

I've had a lot of homework, and it's getting closer to convention time, so cosplays are being worked on. sigh. So frustrating! And birthdays! Mine was Feb. 12. So many birthdays coming up.

I need to relax….

I hope you like. SasuSaku is in the lead now, so if you want, keep voting. REMEMBER, only one vote per person!

LWB


	9. Chapter 8

Sorry for the late late late update. The votes are counted, and the winner will be announced in the end notes.

Beta: konek0

* * *

Rainy Feelings- Chapter 8 

Sakura woke up the next morning and screamed.

Kisame was in her face, grinning.

"Morning, Saku-chan." Kisame was still only inches from her face and his grin widened, "we have a mission to do."

Sakura slowly got up, rubbing her eyes as she went, "a mission, with you? I don't want to go."

"Tough luck, you're stuck with us." Kisame left the room and Sakura got up and donned her coat muttering to herself unhappily.

Sakura entered the kitchen and was surprised by the magnitude of people. Sakura was surrounded by many cloaks and none of them, she dully noted, had food. Sakura spotted blue and made her way towards Kisame, who sat with Itachi and the person she recognized from before… Sasori or something like that.

When she went to sit next to Itachi, Kisame shook his head and grinned.

"I told them you'd cook." Sakura glared at Kisame.

"Ever heard of asking?" Sakura turned her glare at Sasori, who started to chuckle softly.

Despite her complains, Sakura didn't sit, but went over and started cooking. She could feel the eyes watching her as she moved. When she finished, she placed dishes on the table in front of the Akatsuki members and served Itachi last.

When she was done serving them, she sat down and started eating with the rest of them.

When Itachi and Kisame finished, Itachi spoke, "Get up, we have a mission."

Sakura looked up at Itachi and shoveled down the rest of her food down. Slamming her bowl down, she gave Sasori a nod and followed Kisame and Itachi.

The two entered a hall that Sakura had never been to before, so she followed them closely, not wanting to get lost. When they stopped in front of a door, Sakura could feel strong charka waves from the other side.

Itachi and Kisame walked in. When Sakura tried to follow, Kisame held his hand out to stop her. When he finally established that she stopped, he shut the door.

Sakura scowled at the closed door and was tempted to kick it, but thought better of it and glared at it instead.

Sakura sat down and leaned back against the wall. She waited until the two came out ten minutes later.

"What was that about?" Sakura asked, curious about what could happen behind closed doors.

"None of your business." Said Itachi before Kisame could answer. Sakura sneered at his back.

"Stop sneering and hurry up, we have a mission to start." Was the only indication that he may have eyes in the back of his head.

Sakura quickened her pace to keep up with the two taller Akatsuki members.

When they went outside, Sakura was unprepared for the bright sunlight that hit her. Being inside the hide out was like being in a cave. The other two were apparently used to it, for they gave Sakura no time to adjust.

By the time Sakura could see properly, Itachi and Kisame were already in the thick of the woods. Sakura had to run to catch up, pumping a little charka into each step.

When the caught up, Itachi signaled to Kisame and Sakura and the group was off.

They jumped through the trees in silence; Itachi and Kisame side to side and Sakura in the back. They continued for half an hour in silence before Sakura broke it.

"What are we supposed to be doing?"

Kisame looked from Itachi to Sakura, not sure weather or not he could respond. When Itachi said nothing, Kisame spoke.

"We are heading towards Sound, we are to negotiate a treaty between them and us." Said Kisame without looking back at her.

"Why am I here? You hardly need a medic for negotiations," Sakura pointed out.

"You're here because of who we're negotiating with, medic. Now keep quiet or we may be caught," Itachi snapped just as he sensed another presence.

"Too late," Sakura mumbled half to herself.

The three didn't stop; instead, they kept on going until stopped by a silver haired nin.

"Itachi-san, Kisame." The loss of the honorific on Kisame's name was not lost on Sakura as Kabuto turned to her.

"Sakura-san, we meet again," Sakura only looked at him with a blank stare as he looked her over, "all grown up now. How's Naruto? He should be fine and well, or have the Akatsuki killed him?"

"Naruto's fine, not that you really care," Sakura said frostily to the other medic.

"Let us be, Yakushi, or do you favor a premature death?" Kabuto shivered lightly as he moved out of the way.

He was silent when Itachi and Kisame passed, but he spoke as Sakura walked by, "You better be stronger than before, or you will be the first to die." When Sakura turned to look at him, he was already gone.

"Saku-chan, hurry up!" Sakura looked from Kisame to Itachi and sighed as she found herself running again to catch up.

The trio continued their way through Sound, not stopping at all until Itachi signaled them.

Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but Itachi put his finger over her mouth to silence her.

There was a rustling in the bushes, then shruiken flew out from the bush. The three scattered in different directions.

Sakura sat higher in a tree. From her perch, she could see behind the bush; there was no one there. Sakura then felt a presence behind her. Sakura closed her eyes and then swiftly turned and lunged.

Before she could make contact, she was stopped by a single hand. Opening her eyes, she saw it was only Itachi, who in this case, was the lesser of two evils.

The two crouched silently before both sensed the charka patterns of four different people. One was Kisame, the other three were unknown.

Sakura stayed in the tree, but Itachi was gone in the blink of an eye.

Sakura watched from her stoop as Itachi and Kisame took out one of the sound nin's. One of the standing ones disappeared, but Sakura quickly located him, right behind her.

"If you want to live, you better not move." The man hissed through his teeth. Sakura could gauge the man's skill through his charka control and his idiotic threat.

Sakura turned quickly and brought her hand to his neck, snapping his neck on contact. The man fell through the branches, taking leaves and branches with him. When he finally crashed to the ground, Itachi turned, but didn't flinch. Kisame was finishing up defeating the last nin, so he didn't react.

Sakura jumped from her perch and landed gracefully besides Itachi.

"Not bad," Itachi looked from the fallen nin to Sakura and gave a slight nod of his head. As they turned to leave, one of the fallen ninja's moaned.

"Who you face next will not be defeated so easily, we do not forgive trespassers," with that, the man fell and lay unmoving.

"I thought we were here to negotiate," said Sakura, skeptically.

Itachi narrowed his eyes, but it was Kisame who spoke, "We _are_ here to negotiate."

Sakura shrugged her shoulders at this and walked with them until they stopped. Sakura looked down and gasped at what she saw.

In the large pit was a village. The houses were all connected to another. But from where she stood, the houses formed a maze. In the middle was the symbol of the village, the single eighth note, made out with the rooftops.

The three made their way into the heart of the village, toward the oval shaped house that made up the head of the eighth note.

Sakura brought up the rear again as they launched into the heart of the village. Sakura could sense that the strongest charka point was coming from the center; the charka was over whelming.

Sakura gulped as they got closer to the overwhelming charka.

Sakura felt eyes on her. They were burning into the back of her head as she kept running, not bothering to turn in fear of not keeping up.

"Kunoichi, there's someone watching you. Confront them and get rid of them, we'll have no use for you in negotiations," Itachi spoke from the front without looking back.

"Fine," was Sakura's only reply as she disappeared from her position.

When Sakura followed the trail back into the woods, she slowed down and heightened her senses. She could imagine her opponents' muscles tense as he attacked, and she easily turned and grabbed their leg.

There was a moment of silence as the two simply stared at each other.

"Uchiha?" questioned Sakura, not releasing his foot.

* * *

Notes: The winner is… Sasuke, woot! You're probably wondering why I had to have the votes in, since there seemed to be no major movement in the chapter. I had to set up for the character and my plot. Anyways, it was a close win for him. 

So voting is off now, but you can still review my story, don't be afraid!

LWB


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